I don't know why, but I am genuinely shocked (and a little proud?) at how the 47 45 have been handling themselves. Without the leadership that they've grown accustomed to falling back on, they could've easily all been in cages by now. Of course, a lot of this is thanks to Jasper. His character has come leaps and bounds through the series thus far. And not only does it feel completely fluid and natural, I love bad ass Jasper just as much as I did when he was tripping on LSD and clutching the anti-grounder stick. I love all the Jaspers. Watching him axe that man to death wasn't my favorite, but hey, stop stealing bone marrow and there won't be any axing. Am I right?

Cage is having a real rough go at this presidency thing. Being outwitted by a bunch of teenagers is embarrassing enough, but now he's got a full-scale revolution brewing within his own people. Awkward. It ain't easy being king.

The missile did a lot of damage. Is it a little too easy that none of the main characters were killed or even severely injured? Sure. But this is TV land and I'm gonna roll with it. Interestingly enough, as much wreckage as it left, the missile actually seems to have brought our factions together and given them some peace about the truce. Octavia got the chance to show the Grounders that she has value, Lincoln got to win back some of Indra's respect and Abby and Kane got to have one of their should-be-patented aha moments.

Kane is always the one to shine light on the disjointed ways Abby sees Clarke. Abby couldn't understand how her daughter could make such a cold decision, because she still sees her as a subordinate and a child. Someone that needs to be protected. It took someone like Kane, someone that once had the power over Abby to string her up and have her publicly whipped, to show her that Clarke had reason to make this decision. Kane made a good point, heinous and dark consequences were part of the culture that Clarke has been subjected to her entire life. But also, THEY'RE AT WAR... the decisions as a leader are even more heightened. If Clarke and/or Lexa had been killed in that strike, the truce could have crumbled, Finn would have died for nothing, they would have no chance of getting the 47 out of Mount Weather, etc. etc. etc.

I loved it.

4 out of 4 Cages built by Cage that Cage can't seem to fill.

Bits and pieces

This is my second time watching, and I'm noticing a lot of heavy handed hints as to where the season ends up. And that is all I'm going to say about that.

The reunion between Jasper and Bellamy was done all kinds of well. The hug, the subtle reminder that Finn is dead and everyone in Mt. Weather don't even know. "Don't tell me Finn finally got his peace talk." Ah.

While I'm talking about things that pulled on my sensitivity strings, Maya telling them about her mother and using that story to convince her Dad (Continuum alum) to help. Sniffle.

This was the second time Maya's life was risked by her own people to get to the 47 through Jasper. The first was when Dr. Feel Good leaked radiation in the hopes that Jasper would lend himself as guinea pig to save her. No wonder the girl is revolting.

Lexa: "Victory stands on the backs of sacrifice.

Clarke: "Do me a favor? No more lessons."

Abby: "After everything we've done, do we even deserve to survive?"

Indra: "With our two people working together, we're going to win this war."
Did this make anyone else laugh? Yeah, Indra, welcome to the plan that we've been talking about practically all season.

Loved the review, Laure. Another terrific episode. I especially liked the way Kane supported Clarke's decisions while Abby wasn't. And in fact, Abby gave away the farm. If Clarke's and Lexa's decision was a secret, which I would hope it was, and Kane wasn't on board, it could have had real repercussions.

Although I wasn’t a fan of how things turned out last episode, the consequences here were amazing. I loved the Abby/Kane scenes. There was something so refreshing about them acknowledging what a horrible place the Ark was. It was like washing their sins together.

My favorite moment was Abby telling Clarke for her to remember they are the good guys. Several moments this season Abby has tried to lecture Clarke as if she were just her kid, which has been mostly off-putting, but this time it was earned, appropriate and a very important lesson to teach.

It’s nice, when rewatching the season, to see how the complicated chess game builds up to the finale, while the writers smartly tackle the themes that get more prominent with each passing episode. This is a really well done season of television.